I've found threading three or four smaller sized pieces of meat onto a doubled up length of PVA tape, which you then attach to the hook works well.
Mmmmm not thought of that one Paul . .
I take a bait size piece of meat and crush it in to small bits , mix with a few
pellets to keep it seperated and put the lot in a PVA bag and attach to the lead . i am not trying to feed the fish just get a bit of meat smell down there.
However this is a point that I never can quite work out , when it is time to recast meat do you a, use a new fresh piece of bait that should be smellier or
b, use the same piece that shoul be less conspicuous because it has been in the water longer ? To be honest I dont think it makes a lot of difference but
it is something that bugs me.
Hi Richard. As you are no doubt aware, that is a question that has bothered most thinking carp anglers for a very long time. It has been discussed a thousand times, on dozens of forums, and by countless independent groups...but never to my knowledge definitively answered. Some carpers feel that a new, smelly bait is best, as the fish in any situation would have long been aware of any old bait in their vicinity, and if they hadn't taken it after several hours, then it must be that for some reason the fish were suspicious of it. Others prefer the theory that the fish would be suspicious of a new bait, that in fact given more time, the fish would have overcome any fears regarding the old bait, and it may eventually have been taken. That group of anglers would go to great lengths to keep hook baits in a container of the water from the lake involved, until they thought them sufficiently 'washed out', should the need arise to rebait.
Tim Paisley, the publisher of 'Carp world', once said that he lost count of how many times he had an almost instant take after casting out a fresh new bait to a spot where his old bait had previously lain untouched for hours...in fact he recast all his rods every morning for just that reason. Other carpers would claim that to do that was carping suicide, that the baits should be left undisturbed until they were taken...or it was time to go home. Personally, I tried both methods extensively...but could come to no firm conclusions. I tend to think now that if thousands of concerned carpers tested this issue for tens of years, and no absolute trends were discovered...then it either varies from water to water...or even fish to fish. Truth is, if this issue is that inconclusive, then it probably doesn't matter a toss
If it were conclusively provable one way or the other, it would have been proven by now...and it hasn't been. I think I am safe in saying that the same thing almost undoubtedly applies to barbel.
But I could be wrong
Cheers, Dave.